In summer 2018, we reported on the city’s plan to expand the Seattle Parks-owned area of Orchard Street Ravine by buying 7137 38th SW, a 5,600-square-foot parcel (map) holding the century-plus-old house shown in the King County Assessor photo above. Today, Parks announced it will be tearing down the house soon:

Seattle Parks and Recreation is moving forward with the structure demolition in the Orchard Street Ravine at 7137 38th Ave. SW. SPR purchased the property in 2018 to increase the green space in the Orchard Street Ravine, a natural area and important green space connector for the West Seattle community.

Watterson Excavating will be working in late May to demolish the structure on site. Between May and September, the Seattle Conservation Corps will put in erosion control measures and hydroseed the site. The property was purchased with community support and funding provided by the Seattle Park District.

In 2018, the city said the purchase price would be $235,000 (records verify that’s what was paid), and that it expected additional costs of $25,000 for “staff time, title insurance, and closing cost,” plus “up to $100,000 for demolition of the house.”

Friday evening, May 22, Seattle Public Utilities will begin an emergency repair on a large, 16-inch water main that is leaking in West Seattle near SW Holly Street between California Ave SW and 39th Ave SW.

The repair work is expected to be completed by early Saturday morning, May 23, to avoid construction over the Memorial Day weekend.

In order to safely complete this work, crews must temporarily shut off water to about 65 homes in the area. Impacted customers will receive a door hanger from SPU on May 21 with information about the water outage, which starts at 9 pm on Friday, May 22 and ends at 5 am on Saturday, May 23.

The noisiest construction work will occur between 8 pm and 10 pm on May 22 when crews are breaking pavement to access the leaking water main. However, customers in the area may also experience some overnight noise while crews work to repair the pipe.

During the repair, if customers have questions about the work or their water service, they should contact SPU’s 24/7 Operations Response Center at 206-386-1800.

7:14 PM: We went over for a look and found the NO PARKING signs along Holly in the 41st/42nd vicinity, so looks like that’s expected to be the main work zone.

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Comments Off on WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Stolen black pickup

It is a 2000 black Dodge Dakota. Is has a gray canopy and a lumber rack on top, along with some sun spots on the roof. License plate number is B20979D. We live on SW Mills St by Gatewood Elementary, where it was taken from. It had all his work tools and supplies. He has been working up in the Northgate area every day through all of this COVID-19 stuff and it was his dad’s truck, who is no longer with us, so this is difficult for him.

A #TurkeyTuesday full of more sightings of The West Seattle Turkey in Gatewood, where it has been since at least Friday. Today started with this video – listen closely to hear The Turkey, as well as Ben’s narration, from near the Thistle stairway:

A bit later, Tanya sent this photo from 39th/Kenyon:

Please be watchful if you’re driving – The Turkey likes to walk in the street, as seen in Dave‘s photo from 39th/Austin:

That’s also where Jessica got this picturesque view also featuring blossoms:

Susan and Jerry got a backyard visit:

From Leslie near 35th/Webster

And this one came in last night but we can’t resist the Napping Turkey … from Mike near 44th and Southern:

We were SO close. Got multiple reports of The West Seattle Turkey in Gatewood again today, in one instance just a block from WSB HQ. After 11 months of writing about it, maybe it’ll visit us, we thought.

(From Debby on SW Holden)

Alas, no. But enjoy these reader photos anyway.

(From Mike at 44th/Southern)

And let us know if YOU see it!

(From Long Bach Nguyen, seen near California/Kenyon)

As noted the other day, The Turkey was first seen in SW West Seattle last April but has spent most of its time in southeast Admiral/Belvidere since then … until now.

4:47 PM: Thanks for the tip! We found that Seattle Public Utilities crew wrapping up at 41st and Webster after some research following a report that water was out near 35th/Webster. SPU explains that a water main in the area was leaking, so to prepare for full repairs, they had to turn the water off for a while today and do some rerouting. This is the notice SPU said it had sent out:

On Friday, February 14, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) crews will disconnect a water main in your neighborhood that is leaking underground. The broken water main will remain out of service until a permanent repair can be made.

To continue providing you with water service while plans for the repair are made, your water service will be connected to a nearby water main in the adjacent pressure zone. The water pressure in the adjacent zone is lower than what you may have experienced in the past, but still within the acceptable range of 65 to 70 PSI.

The change in your water pressure will remain in effect until a repair can be made to the broken water main.

ANTICIPATED IMPACTS
An emergency water shutdown on February 14
A reduction in water pressure.
Construction activity near the work site

The crew told us they’d just turned the water back on. No word so far how many customers are affected or when the permanent work will be done.

ORIGINAL REPORT: If you’re wondering about the sizable Seattle Fire “scenes of violence” response in the 6700 block of 36th SW in Gatewood: Police say one person who was “in crisis” is being taken to Harborview Medical Center. No word on his condition.

ADDED: The victim’s father says in the comment section below that he did not survive.

Last night at the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council‘s meeting (full story to come), Southwest Precinct operations commander Lt. Steve Strand was asked how to prevent package theft. His reply: “Don’t have them delivered to your home!” The video above, sent by Chris, shows one more reason why: “Caught a porch pirate on video (Monday) stealing an Amazon package off my doorstep, around 15 minutes before I got home.” This happened in Gatewood, near 35th/Thistle; report # is 20-051869.

SENTENCING TOMORROW: 89-year-old Roger Mize will be sentenced tomorrow for shooting another man to death almost a year ago shortly after both boarded a C Line bus in SODO. Mize pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter; prosecutors are recommending a 7 1/2-year sentence. As we reported last year, Mize and the victim, 51-year-old Ronnie Tyler, got into a fight aboard the bus after Mize took offense at Tyler walking past him. He pistol-whipped the victim and then shot him. Mize was arrested for shooting another man in 2013 but was never charged; that victim survived.

We have a new mail thief that struck every mail box this morning at 5:20am on SW oceanview Dr.
I can’t quite make out the make and model of the car this time.

Chris says the thief’s car is the dark one at the top of that image.

CAR PROWL: Gatewood again. This report is from Christine:

Just wanted to let you know that our 2004 Audi was rifled through this morning while I was up and making breakfast for my daughter around 6:15 am. I almost caught them because I heard a car with a loud motor rumbling outside and began to walk to the front door but by the time I got to the window and saw the light on in our car, they took off.

The car was parked in the front of the house and accidentally left unlocked but luckily nothing of value was in there. All they took was our Leatherman multi-tool set. The sound of their car certainly drew attention so surprised they’re out casing when people are up and getting ready for work and school!

My good friend lost her husband suddenly and unexpectedly not that long ago. She is raising their two young children alone. She was picking up her child at school and only ran in for less than 5 minutes. Her car window was smashed and her purse stolen. She carried her husband’s wallet, driver’s license and most importantly, his wedding ring around with her to keep him close. It was all in the purse. We are asking everyone to look out for the purse with the hopes that it was dumped somewhere. It could be in the Gatewood area or near either the Westwood or Junction QFC, as that is where they attempted to use her credit cards. If anyone knows anything about these items, please return them no questions asked.

Sometime in the early morning of 01/08/19, my dark blue 2002 Land Rover Discovery was stolen from my house in the Shorewood area. Last seen on 26th Ave. It was parked right in front on the street in a well-lit area, so it’s concerning. A neighbor was walking her dog around 5am and said that my car was still parked there when she walked past the house. Please post about my stolen vehicle and hopefully it will turn up!

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Comments Off on About the police response in Gatewood

Thanks for the tips about a big police response in a Gatewood alley near Myrtle Reservoir Park. Here’s what we know via radio monitoring and checking with SPD media relations: This started with someone calling in a suspicious person in a vehicle idling in an alley. There was a suspicion the man had a gun in the car, so that called for a heavier response to approach and get him out. For a while he wasn’t responding, but eventually he left the car and was detained. The investigation continues.

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Comments Off on WEST SEATTLE WEATHER: Wires down in Gatewood

1:20 PM: Blustery weather continues – though there’s no wind advisory in effect, we’ve noticed some strong gusts, and one has apparently taken down some lines in Gatewood. Seattle Fire has checked out the report at 41st/Southern [map] and assessed one wire as electrical, so Seattle City Light is being summoned. No outage reported, though.

5:17 PM: Just got a chance to go back and look; tape’s down, road’s open.

Mark sent the video, saying that prowler was recorded in his “back driveway” around 1 am Saturday, near 35th/Holden in Gatewood. Checking the SPD tweet log (which you can scroll through any time atop the WSB Crime Watch page), we note that Saturday also brought two auto-theft reports in Gatewood, 4100 block of SW Monroe and 4100 block of SW Portland – haven’t heard from the victims, so no details.

Tonight’s West Seattle Christmas lights spotlight are courtesy of Mark Bader, who sent the photo and video of his music-synched lights in Gatewood:

“Austin Street Christmas Lights” is at 3711 SW Austin Street. I have about 2000 lights; all of them are LED lights that can change to any color. There are 5 songs that are synced to the lights, if you stay and watch all of them, it’s about 15 minutes of music. The lights run from 4 pm to 10 pm nightly – tune your car radio to 99.5 to hear the music.

To see other lights we’ve featured, scroll through this archive. And if you have tips – your own lights or someone else’s, with or without photos – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

Last night my 1987 Toyota 4Runner was stolen from the front of my house near the intersection of Woodside and Myrtle. It is black with a black fabric top on the rear. WA plates BBC2458. A police report has been filed.

The SPD log shows another burglary reported in Gatewood today – and this time we’ve heard from the victim. Mark reports:

While work(ing) on my security cameras this afternoon (!!!) , I stepped inside and left my garage doors open for several minutes. A guy drove by, stopped, and came into the garage. Fortunately he only stole a bike pump. Attached are pictures of the guy and his truck.

I literally was out of the garage for 90 seconds at the time of the theft.

This was in an alley behind the 6700 block of 38th SW. If you have any information about the person in Mark’s images, the SPD case # is 2019-443068.

That’s one of the items that were on display as Peace Lutheran Church in Gatewood celebrated its 75th anniversary. 1945 would have been the church’s first full calendar year – from the announcement of today’s celebration, some history:

Peace Lutheran Church was founded just as World War II was ending, choosing a name that expressed its hope for the future. The congregation organized in November 1944, and held its first service as a new congregation the first Sunday in December 1944, in a portable classroom at E.C. Hughes School. Using materials reclaimed from former army barracks, members built a chapel on 39th Ave SW and SW Thistle, dedicating it in 1946, Ten years later, the congregation, in a major expansion of its original building, dedicated a new sanctuary which is in use today.

The church’s Fellowship Hall was full of photos and other memorabilia before today’s service:

The celebration continued after the service with a luncheon. One more note: Churchgoers wanted to point out Donna, the crossing guard, helping people get safely across Thistle (not far from the scene of an early-morning crash):

Logged police calls indicate a burglary spike in West Seattle. So does what Erin was told after her home was broken into:

Our home in Gatewood (39th and Southern Street) was burglarized in the middle of the day (Tuesday). The burglars entered through an unlocked kitchen window and took jewelry, computers, a wallet, and rifled through our entire house. The police officers who responded said the area has seen increased burglaries in the past couple days.

P.S. Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Jennifer Danner reminds us that she offers “free residential safety/security assessments, as well as burglary follow-ups” – jennifer.danner@seattle.gov is how to reach her.

No football, no rain (yet) – here’s an option this afternoon: It’s all about the home-made and hand-made at Peace Lutheran Church‘s holiday bazaar, on until 3 pm. Above, the card for the kimchi is right next to the bake-sale tables. Other tables offer sewn, knitted, crocheted creations at bargain prices:

The bazaar’s in the church’s daylight basement, entrance just north of the northeast corner of 39th/Thistle in Gatewood.

P.S. One week from today – on Sunday, November 24 – Peace Lutheran celebrates its 75th anniversary. Events start at 9:30 am and continue into the afternoon – details in our calendar listing.

Just noticed this one while headed out on an errand – Ray Charles, painted by Desmond Hansen on the cabinet at the northwest corner of 35th/Thistle. Unless we’ve missed one, this is the first one we’ve heard about since these two months ago.

It'll be an unusual sight at Alki Playfield (above) and Walt Hundley Playfield during four afternoons next week when a helicopter lands for an emergency drill. The Seattle Fire Department has notified people near both fields about the plan, and one resident let us know about it - we've subsequently....